"Sharp, quirky, and occasionally nettlesome", Walking the Berkshires is my personal blog, an eclectic weaving of human narrative, natural history, and other personal passions with the Berkshire and Litchfield Hills as both its backdrop and point of departure. I am interested in how land and people, past and present manifest in the broader landscape and social fabric of our communities. The opinions I express here are mine alone. Never had ads, never will.

May 10, 2010

During the American Revolution, the area in lower Manhattan now known as "Ground Zero" was then known as "Holy Ground". This was a fire scarred district north and west of Broadway in the vicinity of St. Paul's Church - hence the name. However, it was also a tongue in cheek reference, for it was at that time the largest red light district and open air brothel in North America. Even before 1776, there were as many as 500 prostitutes on "Holy Ground."

When I was growing up during the later years of the Cold War and Nuclear Freeze movement, "Ground Zero" referred to the center of a hypothetical detonation of a nuclear weapon over a major city. New York was almost always the illustrative case, with predictions of casualties and fall out from a direct strike on lower Manhattan extending four miles beyond a "Ground Zero". Today, of course, Ground Zero has a different association in New York, but its linguistic roots come from the era of mutually assured destruction.

New York, more than any other United States city, builds on the ruins of its past. All that remains of the notorious Sugar House prison where thousands of American P.O.W.s died during the Revolution is a small number of Holland bricks and two barred windows, one of which is not even at the original site. The real estate that was once part of Holy Ground and now a hole in the ground is far too valuable to remain undeveloped, and far too imbued with modern meaning to be redeveloped insensitively. For some, it is indeed sacred ground, and for many nearly a decade later it remains an open wound.

Abraham Lincolnunderstood the difference between where important events took place and the significance of what people did there;

"we can not dedicate -- we can not
consecrate -- we can not
hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled
here, have
consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world
will
little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget
what
they did here."

Walt Whitman knew that the grass itself is not one thing but many, and sometimes "the beautiful uncut hair of graves."

Although it is my profession to preserve land, and I understand the value of maintaining some places as they once were so that we who follow can connect with what transpired in that earlier time, even war graves lie beneath the city streets, and new buildings replace what might have been kept as shrines. A symbol must stand for the whole, like the barred window of a colonial prison that people pass in their thousands every day without reflection.

I once had the good fortune to sing with an American choir in Coventry, an industrial city in the English Midlands that was pulverized in an air raid that the British knew was coming but which they could not prevent without alerting the enemy that codes had been compromised. More than 1,800 people were killed and wounded during the raid, and along with much of the city its cathedral became a bombed out shell. A modern church was subsequently built, connected to the truncated columns and roofless walls and spire of the original medieval building, and the entire cathedral complex today is dedicated to reconciliation and remembrance. There is a small museum in the lower level of the church that reconstructs the period of the Blitz, along with an interior of a bomb damaged house and its everyday contents covered in rubble, but nothing about the site is bitter. There is a cross of charred beams in the ruined cathedral, and another of nails made from the roof lead that melted during the bombing, but no raised fist.

Coventry is not New York. This conflict is not over. But for all its dead the city is not a tomb, though the remains of the fallen will never be entirely recovered. It is as alive as Whitman's grass and Lincoln's words, and it will take on many forms in the years to come. We all have a stake in that future, but none an exclusive claim on what is carried forward.

My introduction to Lena Horne wasn't during her glamorous, pioneering years as the first African American to land a major, long-term film studio contract, or her staunch and highly visible commitment to civil rights. (though, in a way, it reflected both these aspects of her long and admirable life). It was this moment from Sesame Street which she would later reprise on the Muppet Show, and which has stayed with me since I was my son's age.

May 08, 2010

I have to pull up a small brick patio to make way for the new cellar hatchway, and so decided to use about half of the bricks to make a new path to the bottom of the garden where the faeries live. This afternoon I finished it, and wonder why I didn't do this long ago. I am glad I saved that mound of stone dust over by the compost pile because it was just the thing for this job.

May 07, 2010

There is a seemingly limitless number of variables in life, but a limited number of outcomes. While not all roads lead to Rome, a number of them ultimately do, though they may diverge and meander along the way. Sometimes a few votes in Florida decide a Presidential election, or a few Supreme Court Justices, or Ralph Nader, or maybe it was Monica Lewinsky. Sometimes different choices made at critical moments lead to the same result, and sometimes they make all the difference.

This is what I find so fascinating about history. Given the choices made and his personal qualities and liabilities, it is doubtful that Nathan Hale would have been a more successful spy had he not encountered such a ruthless adversary as Robert Rogers. On the other hand, what is the likelihood that the Republic of Vermont might have willfully allied with British Canada during the latter part of the Revolution? Ethan Allen made overtures and Washington was well aware that Vermont was wavering. Had the British treated him less harshly as a prisoner, or had his brother Ira (arguably the brains of the Allen bunch), been more actively involved in negotiations, the 14th State might well have given Canada 14 provinces and territories. Or maybe they would have lost it again in the War of 1812. Many paths to the same outcome.

It is popular today to speak of tipping points (and "Perfect Storms" as well, but that is a different story), where the cumulative weight of choices and events shift the balance of history. Since we are now, metaphorically at least, in the realm of physics, it bears notice that the amount of force required to use a lever depends on the location of the fulcrum. The degree to which the fulcrum has fixed constraints may limit the choices available to individuals and institutions, but often it can be shifted, even under the most unlikely circumstances. Add to this the challenge of making choices under pressure with limited information, and the balance may shift in remarkable ways.

When I was a mountaineer, I learned that there are threats for which you can plan and prevent and those you cannot for which you need to react to minimize their impacts. Washington's "Dunkirk style" boat lift to safety after the Battle of Long Island was aided by fog, as his attack on Trenton was assisted by sleet. Yet Arnold and Montgomery's assault on Quebec in a raging winter storm failed despite these conditions, and bad weather may have provided General Howe with the excuse he needed to evacuate Boston with honor rather than assault the newly fortified artillery positions on Dorchester Heights that had been left undefended by the British throughout the siege.

These leaders could not control the weather but only use what they had to best advantage. It is these human qualities that shape the choices we make and what we perceive our options to be. We are all of us social actors, but whether we fret and strut our hour on the stage or find a way forward is determined both by what we have to work with and how we perceive our ability to choose, and act.

May 05, 2010

Remember the Bicentennial? There were all those commemorative stamps with the words and faces of the Founders, of course, but also Sybil Ludington and Betsy Ross and Jewish financier Haym Solomon. The Independence struggle in America produced few great generals but lots of everyday heroes, and a folk history that praises the Minuteman as the ideal Common Man and the efforts of civilians and statesmen alongside those in uniform.

Compare this with how we commemorate our Civil War. Today there is a lopsided infatuation, almost verging on fetish, with a bevy of generals in gray and certain colonels in blue (Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain foremost among the latter of these). We make heroes out of every combatant (though we know than not everyone was). Aside from Abraham Lincoln, we do not remember other politicians as making meaningful contributions; rather, we recall the bungling of politically appointed Union generals and the parochialism of southern governors. Who celebrates the diplomats who kept Europe neutral (Charles Henry Adams, the son and grandson of presidents), or remembers the names and accomplishments of the inventors and industrialists whose machines and materiel made this the first modern war? A few specialists and Civil War buffs, and that is all.

Yet in earlier times, we did celebrate specific civilians as well as the volunteer soldiers in butternut or blue. In case some of these get overlooked during the Sesquicentennial, here is a starter list, in no particular order, of noteworthy citizens whose contributions great or small to the struggle who are worth commemorating.

Mary Ann Bickerdyke - "Mother Bickerdyke", the volunteer nurse who by the end of the war had helped establish 300 hospitals and of whom General Sherman remarked "She ranks me." She lead the XVth Corps at the Grand Review in Washington at the close of the war.

Barbara Fritchie - The Frederick Maryland native and staunch Unionist who was the inspiration for Whittier's poem with its famous line " 'Shoot if you must, this old gray head / But spare your country's flag.' she said." The nonagenarian probably never waved a Union Flag at Stonewall Jackson's troops, but her patriotism in this divided border community is without question.

John Burns - "The Old Hero of Gettysburg", a veteran of the War of 1812 who fought as a civilian with the Iron Brigade during the 1st day's battle, and though left wounded on the field after the Union withdrawal was taken for a noncombatant by the confederates instead of being executed as a bushwhacker.

Rose O'Neal Greenhow - Washington socialite and Confederate spy

Pauline Cushman - Actress and Union Spy made an honorary Major for her services.

Allan Pinkerton - Founder of the Union Intelligence Service, forerunner of the the Secret Service, who foiled an assassination plot against President Lincoln early in the war.

Dred Scott - He sued for his freedom, and while ultimately the U.S. Supreme court ruled that as property and not a person he had no legal standing to do so, the decision in 1857 further divided the country on the eve of war.

Harriet Tubman - "Moses" who lead 300 people to freedom on the Underground Railroad and later spied for the Union.

Frederick Douglass - the most eloquent and prominent African American of his time, a major abolitionist who argued that slavery was not only immoral but unconstitutional.

Dorothea Dix - Social reformer and Superintendent of Union Army Nurses

Harriet Beecher Stowe - "The little lady who started this great war", her Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best selling novel of the 19th Century and second in sales only to the Bible.

Julia Ward Howe - Her "Battle Hymn of the Republic" became a marching song for the ages.

John Brown - The firebrand that touched off the powder keg.

James Ryder Randall - His lyrics for "Maryland, My Maryland" made it the most martial song of the South.

John Ericsson - His invention of the double screw propeller was as significant as his Ironclad "Monitor."

Thaddeus Lowe - Pioneered the use of gas observation balloons.

Andrew Carnegie: The noted industrialist and philanthropist was also Union Assistant Secretary of War and organizer of the military telegraph system.

Clara Barton - Union frontline nurse and later founder of the American Red Cross

Horace Lawson Hunley - his eponymous submarine was the first vessel of its kind to sink an enemy warship.

Dr. Henry W. Bellows - founder of the U.S. Sanitary Commission

Matthew Brady - The most famous of the Civil War photographers.

Andrew Gardner - His battlefield photographs brought the dead of Antietam to the Union home front.

Charles C. Wellford - The proprietor of Catherine Furnace, who alerted Stonewall Jackson to a forest road he had recently opened up that allowed the Confederates to successfully flank the Union lines at Chancellorsville.

James Edward Hanger - The first amputee of the Civil War, this Virginian lost his leg to a cannonball and then dedicated his life to making better artificial limbs. Hanger Orthopedic has over 1,000 employees today.

Issac Solomon - manager of a tomato canning plant in Baltimore who in 1860 developed a method that made sterilization take a fraction of the time it had previously and allowed for increased production of canned food for the war effort.

Eli Whitney - He is responsible for the Cotton Gin that lead to an explosive increase in the demand for slaves to produce southern cotton and also gets credit as an early proponent of interchangeable gun parts, which would ultimately enable the mass production of weapons that helped the North put down the rebellion.

Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin - Pennsylvania governor who organized and hosted the Loyal War Governor's Conference in September, 1862 that reaffirmed their support of Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the effort to see the war through. They also suggested the removal of General McClellan after Antietam.

The brothers Harper - James, John, Joseph and Fletcher, publishers of Harper's Weekly, the most important and influential periodical of the war.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. You have probably noted a preponderance of Unionists. Noteworthy though they may be, it is difficult to commemorate a white supremist fire-eater like Edmund Ruffin or a presidential assassin like John Wilkes Booth the way we do Paul Revere, or for that matter once did John Burns.

May 04, 2010

Courtesy of Tigerhawk; I was alerted to what my blogging cousin calls a "Wagnerian" campaign ad on behalf of a Tea Party candidate in Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional district. As a piece of political theater - strong on symbols, short on substance - it is an intriguing approach to candidate marketing. Given the paucity of decent films based in the Revolutionary period, it may be too much to hope for the sort of Memorial Day blockbuster the ad is designed to evoke, but it does offer the opportunity to deconstruct the history on parade.

Whoa, Nelly! Let's go right to the storyboard.

"1775" - (fade to Revere's engraving of the (1770) Boston Massacre) "Americans pushed to the brink"

(fade to image of British grenadiers and condescending or possibly conciliatory officer standing between them and a ragged working class mob armed with cudgels) "Tired of not being heard" I do not know the provenance of this image, which looks like a late 19th century magazine illustration.

"Drained by taxes from Britain" (fade to image of a Revolutionary era protest demonstration complete with drum and bugle, effigies hanged and otherwise, various urchins, a pipe smoking female spectator and a sign in the background that reads "The Folly of England and the Ruin of America". The image is reminiscent of the style of a 19th century political cartoon, and in fact depicts a protest in New York against the Stamp Act of 1765 and comes from The Story of a Great Nation by John Gilmary
Shea, published in 1886.

(fade to a close up of King George III in sumptuous ermine and the words "Angered by the Oppression"). This is Allan Ramsey's 1762 ceremonial portrait of the British monarch, and like all of these images it has been subtly enhanced for dramatic effect. Comparing the original to the version used in the campaign ad indicates that the lips have been altered to appear more parted.

(fade to a close up illustration of the Congressional committee members lead by Jefferson, Franklin and Adams who drafted the Declaration of Independence) "A small band of Americans" This looks like a 20th century illustration, presumably one in the public domain.

(fade to the Trumbull painting of the same committee presenting the Declaration before Congress in 1776) "Determined to Shrug off Tyranny"

(fade to a close up of the Preamble to the Constitution (1787) "To Provide a New Government"

These seven scenes occupy the first 14 seconds of this 1:41 minute campaign ad. Now it picks up the pace and the images come too quick to register other than subliminally. Let's break them down.

a late 18th century or early 19th century depiction of the Boston Tea party complete with realistic "Mohawks" and well dressed spectators and the word "They"

an image of Capt. Parker's Minutemen confronting the British Light Infantry on Lexington Common with the addition of the word "Rebelled". This is a modern image by Don Troiani and therefore cannot be reproduced without permission. It is called "Stand Your Ground" and was painted in 1985 and the original is owned by the
National
Guard Heritage Painting, Department of the Army, National Guard Bureau.) Hope the private property copywrite was respected.

An image of what looks like a successful British bayonet and cavalry charge against a routed and martyred band of patriots. In fact, it depicts the death of General De Kalb at the Battle of Camden, one of the greatest patriot defeats in the southern campaigns or indeed in the entire war. It is an engraving based on the painting by Alonzo Chapell (1828-1887).

John Singleton Copley's famous painting entitled "The Death of Major Peirson" (1784) depicting a British engagement against the invading French in the the Channel Island of Jersey, which did not involve any Americans and which prominently features a black soldier in the uniform of the Royal Ethiopians. This loyalist regiment was not present at this battle, which was won by the British against America's ally.

A color painting of undetermined origin of a Continental army firing line wearing the red facings prescribed under Washington's regulations of 1779 for battalions from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. It features a green flag with the red and white stripes of the Sons of Liberty in its upper left canton. Possibly a rifle regiment, given the green, but they have bayonets, so who knows. They are certainly well accoutered and very clean limbed.

Emanuel Leutze's 1851 painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware, with close focus on Washington.

The phrase "They rebelled" is sustained for nearly all of the 4 seconds that it takes to flash through these six images.

(Zoom out from Edward P. Moran's 1911 painting of Washington at Valley Forge) "The turning point came at Valley Forge" This ought to play well in Pennsylvania, although folks at Saratoga might quibble.

(Another image of the Valley Forge encampment from a 19th century lithograph in the Granger Collection, NY, featuring an African American lighting a fire in the lee of a stump while Washington and Lafayette survey the scene.) "Bloodied and freezing"

(Washington and Steuben inspecting the troops at Valley Forge, in a rather poor color engraving after noted Pennsylvania illustrator Howard Pyle's 1896 black and white version for Harper's, and incidentally also housed in the Granger collection) "They increased their training."

(Trumbull's (1797) Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown) "Bringing them victory"

All this, in 30 seconds. The scene now shifts to an apocalyptic present, to a frowning troika of Obama, Reid and Pelosi: "Now we face new tyranny". Then there is an image of the Statue of Liberty suffering from an extreme case of sea level rise (does the candidate believe in global climate change?) but with the confusing title "We see overtaxing cap & trade". Another closeup of Pelosi and Reid follows with the tag line; "Overlegislating heathcare" (though those starving, ill-clad patriots dying of disease at Valley Forge might have benefited from a little socialized medicine). Then we learn from a black and yellow sign on an arid landscape that an "overreaching" congress created (this) dust bowl (through the Farm Bill, perhaps?)

It is 8 seconds of hyperbole in the best bait and switch tradition of political advertising, but is it good history? Is President Obama an unelected imperial despot akin to "German George", abetted by a parliament that was not elected by the people it governs? Is cap & trade another Intolerable Act that will do to private enterprise what the vindictive Crown did to the port of Boston? Is the Statue of Liberty really destined to slip beneath the stormy seas? Is the answer really blowing in the wind of that alleged dust bowl?

No time to linger on these thoughts; there is another full minute left to run! Here comes handsome Scott Brown riding out of Massachusetts like Lady Godiva Paul Revere (in his old pick up truck, one assumes), and now it is time for the dominoes to fall revolution to come to Pennsylvania. Here are the modern heirs to the tax resisters who founded this nation raising their fists before the nation's Capitol: "We will tell Washington We are in Control." Mind you, there were a number of mutinies by the Continental Line where they tried to say that to the actual Washington but those didn't turn out so well; see also Daniel Shays revolt and the Whiskey Rebellion for other early examples of the suppression of counterrevolutionary activity in America.

At this point the ad verges toward parody of the blockbuster trailers that were its thematic inspiration, percussively launching one word at a time at the viewer as the unintelligible generic choral music swells. I did catch the word "Liberty", which is less in vogue today than in the Founders' day, having been replaced by "Freedom" in Reagan's. It will be interesting if we see an increase in the use of of "Liberty", which is not precisely synonymous with "Freedom", in the future.

1:22 seconds into the spot, we reach climax - a short but sadly realistic time frame for such activity - and we finally learn the identity of the candidate we are in bed with. The self-styled "Pennsylvania Patriot", reminds us, almost as a post coital aside, that "Freedom is the only gift we must earn", so perhaps he is having it both ways after all, etymologically speaking.

Was it over the top? Does all that virile, throbbing sound and fury really signify nothing? Frankly, I thought it was somewhat understated and restrained. I mean, where is God in all of this? Why no image of Washington praying at Valley Forge (whether the deist CinC really did so or not)? Why no Molly Pitcher or Betsy Ross, both (allegedly) Pennsylvania heroines? Aren't there women in the modern Tea Party movement? You think all they think about after Scott Brown is "Where's the beefcake?' Why not pull out all the stops? When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.

May 03, 2010

The heat was thick in the air yesterday as I worked on my gardens, spading up great clods of earth to lay down a brick path to the back gate and pulling out a carpet of weeds in advance of tilling the soil. Today the rain is pelting down in sheets with a following wind. Without standing water it was a mercifully mosquito-free experience to be outside working the earth, and hopefully this rain will soak well in.

I am dreaming of heirloom tomatoes and how to baffle blights, wilts and cankers before I get the harvest in. I imagine basil by the bushel and pole beans and peppers. I'm thinking about where to get a load of composted manure that won't be filled with garlic mustard seeds, and how to reclaim the wildflower beds from the encroaching suckers of choke cherry. I would gladly stay home for a week on my hands and knees with nothing but garden projects before me, but will settle for an hour here and an afternoon there between now and planting time, a few short weeks away.

May 02, 2010

During the Bicentennial of the American Revolution, several official commissions from states that were among the original 13 colonies released series of publications dealing with local aspects of the war. Among these were New York and Connecticut, and for the specialist researcher some of these largely out of print titles often contain information not readily available elsewhere. New York still makes several of these short titles available, but most of the rest will set you back a considerable amount, if you can even find a decent copy of what were originally inexpensively produced pamphlets and short paperbacks.

Titles such as "Connecticut Attacked: A British Viewpoint, Tryon's Raid on Danbury" and "The Hudson Valley in the American Revolution" elevated the significance of local contributions to the war effort or incidents which may have been sideshows to the big show but helped forge modern connections to our Independence struggle. Many were published early in the Bicentennial, indicating a significant amount of prior planning and research.

As Jill LePore discusses in her excellent analysis in the New Yorker of the historic underpinnings of the modern "tea party" movement, some of these local efforts may have been in deliberate counterpoint to Nixon's Bicentennial Commission, which was viewed with great skepticism during those turbulent times of social unrest in this country. The backlash against celebrating the Revolution without also addressing its checkered legacy caused a number of commemorative events to be usurped by protesters engaged in a modern cultural revolution that was, in fact, televised.

On the eve of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, many states that participated in the conflict have not yet established commissions or invested in discussing what to remember and how to interpret it. Connecticut is one of the few New England States where there is such an effort, and a centerpiece of its work will be a new publication: Civil
War Connecticut: From Slavery to Commemoration (Wesleyan
University Press, forthcoming 2011). This book is intended to "tell the story of Connecticut's role and connection to the Great
Rebellion, from attitudes towards slavery and abolition, to the initial
call for troops and why they fought, to the state's incredible
war-related industry, as well as the intense animosity among some to the
Lincoln administration and the war. And, finally, a discussion of how
the war has been memorialized throughout the state, with monuments
dotting Connecticut towns and cities."

For a buff like me, this book will be a welcome addition to my library. Yet the complimentary efforts of the Sesquicentennial Commission, including curriculum partnerships with primary and secondary schools across the state, scholarly articles and a documentary film, have the potential to engage those who live in Connecticut today with the significance of long ago events with local connections. Particularly in this Northern state which raised two regiments of colored troops and was the birthplace of both Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Brown, slavery and its aftermath will be a prominent part of the commemoration. One cannot honestly engage with the Civil War without discussing race and slavery (as, indeed, is true of the Revolution as well).

There may be a backlash from some in Barack Obama's America against a more multicultural, more nuanced study and remembrance of this period in our nation's past. Those who resist discussions of the wider implications of events that took place on what many consider hallowed ground, who prefer to honor the heritage and sacrifice of their soldier ancestors rather than examine the choices they made and the social context in which they acted, have trouble with this kind of scrutiny. To me, it is not a question of one or the other. Ulysses Grant would write about the surrender at Appomattox that he was "depressed at the defeat of a foe who had fought so valiantly [for] the worst cause for which anyone ever fought." History is nothing if not filled with paradox and contradiction, as is humanity.

May 01, 2010

As I now read several new histories covering the War of American
Independence each month, and am working through a 'favorites list" at
Amazon that approaches 150 titles, I know I would value a list that pointed me toward the best in this genre. Since any such list will be subjective, let me begin by declaring my criteria. I wish to recognize works of Revolutionary War history that combine excellent scholarship, lively prose and fresh perspectives. Particularly in this historical period, there are ample opportunities to be the only full length treatment of a particular subject and still fall short of being definitive. Here is what stands out for me thus far.

Spring, Mathew H (2008) With Zeal and Bayonets Only; The British Army on Campaign in North America, 1775-1783; Campaigns and Commanders series, University of Oklahoma Press. This is that rare work of scholarship that makes the transition from PhD dissertation to popular publication and loses nothing in translation. Far from being stiff ranked automatons unable to contend with patriot potshots, the British made dramatic tactical adjustments to contend with terrain and irregular warfare in America. Fighting in open order, modifying uniforms to suit conditions in the field, using elite light infantry and grenadier units as shock troops and overwhelming American riflemen with rapid advances and the bayonet are just some of these innovations. While the German mercenaries who served with the British are not the subject of this work, it does suggest that they made fewer changes either in their marching step or uniform (aside from replacing breeches and stockings with gaitered overalls).

Burrows, Edwin G. (2008) Forgotten Patriots; The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War; New York: Basic Press. Aside from the notorious prison hulk Jersey, which contrary to popular assertion was dedicated almost exclusively to nautical prisoners, little else is remembered in America today about the ghastly neglect and loss of life suffered by American prisoners of war during the Revolution. Burrows makes a strong case that historical estimates of prisoner deaths are dramatically short of the mark. "The impact on local communities was crushing. Of the thirty-six
men from Litchfield, Connecticut who helped defend Fort Washington, four
were killed and thirty-two taken prisoner. Twenty died in the
prisons of New York, another six on the way home. Only six returned to
Litchfield - six of the original thirty-six."The Sugar House and Provost Prison in New York deserve to be as infamous in American memory as Andersonville and Elmira were during the Civil War; the fact that they are not is one of the fascinating topics explored by Burrows in this groundbreaking work.

Rose, Alexander (2006) Washington's Spies; The Story of America's First Spy Ring; New York: Bantam/Dell. In the opening chapters, Rose drops a bombshell that casts the Nathan Hale story in an entirely new light. He restores his captor, the celebrated and subsequently disgraced Robert Rogers of Rogers Rangers fame, to his proper place in the narrative. Rose also offers evidence for the Revolutionary equivalent of Mrs O'Leary's cow as the origin of the great New York Fire soon after British occupation. I enjoyed this book for these nuggets of history alone, but its treatment of the Culper Ring that provided Washington with intelligence from within British New York is fine scholarship and storytelling combined.

Patton, Robert H. (2008) Patriot Pirates; The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution; New York: Random House. The grandson of the WWII commander spins a great yarn and comes down decisively on the side of the privateers as contributing at least as much, if not more, to winning American independence than Washington's army. For him, privateering offers a unique lens on the social and economic underpinnings of the American colonies and those who fought for independence for pecuniary as well as patriotic reasons. "It is often overlooked that in the years leading up to 1775 rising anger over Britain's restrictive trade policies coincided with an economic surge in the colonies. Americans were the most prosperous people in the world, and also the lowest taxed. In fiscal terms rebellion was inspired by ambition rather than hardship, by a desire not for financial freedom but for more financial freedom. This push for opportunity spurred people's envy of success, their scorn of failure, and their increasingly dubious view of their compatriots' integrity."

Babits, Lawrence E. and Joshua B Howard (2009) Long, Obstinate and Bloody; The Battle of Guilford Courthouse; Chapel Hill, UNC Press. Babits and Howard do a masterful job of teasing out troop movements and casualties from hundreds of veteran pension records, treating participant accounts as artifacts. As such, they have created what will long stand as the definitive account of this confusing but highly significant battle, placing it solidly within the context of the southern campaigns of 1780-1781 and presented in a highly readable and well documented form.

Fischer, David Hackett (1994) Paul Revere's Ride; Oxford; Oxford University Press. This is an older work by a superb historian that has stood the test of time. Fischer is as much interested in events as their causes, in contingencies shaped by individual choice and larger social contexts. As for the midnight rider, he becomes a far more intriguing character than the hero of Longfellow's well known poem, both before and well after the Lexington Alarm. As with all Fischer's books, the appendices are a trove of fascinating data and tables that add significantly to an already throughout historical treatment.

Fischer, David Hackett (2004) Washington's Crossing; Oxford, Oxford University Press. Fischer deservedly won the Pulitzer Prize for this one. This is a tour de force that takes an event well enshrined in American myth and restores it as outstanding history. Fischer treats the entire campaign of 1776 with great skill, with comprehensive examination of the content and character of the American, British and Hessian forces. Again, he is interested in choice and contingency. "The meeting of these armies was more than a clash of weapons and tactics. It became a conflict of ideas and institutions in which people made different choices - and chose differently."

There are several works that take on the American War of Independence as experienced by the the British and their allies. I found the best of these to be Stanley Weintraub's (2005) Iron Tears; America's Battle for Freedom, Britain's Quagmire: 1775-1783; New York; Free Press. John Ferling's (2007) Almost a Miracle; The American Victory in the War of Independence; Oxford: Oxford University Press is an excellent one volume history of the war. I enjoyed Mark Urban's (2007) Fusiliers; The Saga of a British Redcoat Regiment in the American Revolution; New York: Walker, which is notable as one of the very few such regimental histories, contemporary or modern, from this period.

I am still hoping for a first rate history of the battle of Monmouth Courthouse (perhaps Babits and Howard will oblige). I'd like to see the Hessian regiments in American given the same treatment as Spring's analysis of the character and tactics of the British army. Sadly, I would also like to find that my monthly reading list contained a high percentage of history writing that meets the high standard of the works noted above, but there is much mediocrity and awkward prose even in the most promising of subjects. I welcome your recommendations.